First sentence: There was a cat who lived alone. Until the day a new cat came. The cat showed the new cat what to do. When to eat, when to drink, where to go, how to be, when to rest. Big cat, little cat.
Premise/plot: A simple yet profound book on life, love, and legacy. Dare I say we're talking meaning-of-life stuff here? The story at its most basic: Big Cat trains Little Cat on how to cat. Little Cat grows up to be a Big Cat. The two enjoy each other very much. My favorite line, "For five minutes each day they went wild." Everyone is sad when 'Big Cat' dies. But a new kitten joins the family a while later. And so once again there's a Big Cat, a Little Cat, and a whole lot of lessons to be learned.
My thoughts: I was tempted to just have my review be a song clip of Disney's Circle of Life. And this book is about the circle of life. But I think it goes beyond that. Personally I think it's all about LEGACY. Big Cat taught Little Cat everything. And that 'everything' stuck with him. Big Cat is not forgotten. Big Cat's legacy lives on and will always live on. At different points in our lives we're all "Big Cats" and "Little Cats." We have the opportunity--the privilege--of passing on what we've learned, what we've been taught to the next generation. We can remember and honor those in our lives that have come before, that have loved us, that have raised us. And one way to do that is to keep engaging in life, in being a part of the community, of being involved with children, contributing in our own small ways to the future.
I think the book is also about change. Nothing stays the same forever. Little Cat had to grow bigger and bigger and bigger. Big Cat had to grow older and older. That's just how life is. You can't stay a kitten forever. No matter how much fun being a kitten is, there's a time when you're a CAT. That doesn't mean all the fun is gone from life. You can still be a kitten-at-heart I suppose. Change is inevitable. It can be sad. But it can also be happy. There is joy and sorrow in life.
Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10
© 2017 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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